Certainly a tale of two games...In game one, Sox pitcher, Kurt Nantkes
lived up to his billing and had the best command and control of
pitches I had seen in some time. The Dubyas were stymied with
only 2 base hits and 11Ks (7Inn, 1H, 11K, 2ER, 3BB, 1HBP). The
Sox bats were hot with Nantkes helping himself with a 3RHR and Robert
Foshe going 3 for 4, Troy Flood 2 for 2 1RBI, and Stephen Boudreaux 2
for 3 with an RBI. Game two was a reversal of fortune. The
White Sox committed 5 errors in the field and lost total team
chemistry. At the plate, Dubyas pitcher, Mitch Tisher kept the
Sox off balance throughout 6 1/3 innings before suffering a
devastating arm break on his final pitch. Apparently, the stress
of throwing from three different arm angles and with such velocity,
Mitch's humorous snapped offering a loud crack heard throughout the
ball park. All witnesses were sickened by the event, but what
sickens the most is the consequence of Mitch not being present on the
ball field. Great guy and great ball player. He will be
sorely missed not just by the Dubyas, but by us all.
--Stephen Boudreaux, White Sox

August 27-28, 2005

White Sox 8 Diamond Dawgs 7

Diamond Dawgs 3 White Sox 1

In game one, White Sox pitcher Jason Wendt threw an excellent game
giving up no walks and giving up only one earned run. With the
score 3-1 in favor of the Diamond Dawgs going into the top of the 7th,
the White Sox were worried Wendt's efforts would be wasted.
Diamond Dawg pitcher, Shane Hubbard had thrown 6 strong innings and
had the Sox bats as quiet as they were the week before. However,
Hubbard was visibly tired and the White Sox took advantage scoring 7
runs in the 7th. The Dawgs picked up one run, but it wasn't
enough to over come the comeback. In game two, the White Sox
couldn't put together any meaningful string of hits to support Kurt
Nantkes' stellar pitching performance (7in, 9Ks, 1BB, 3ER).
Nantkes was also 2 for 2 at the plate with a double and a triple and
the only RBI of the game for the Sox. The playoff race is
getting heated going into the stretch run with the Deerz running away
with the league and the other three playoff spots up for grabs.--Stephen
Boudreaux, White Sox

August 20-21, 2005

White Sox 4 Dodgers 3

Dodgers 5 White Sox 1

White Sox 1 Athletics 3

Athletics 7 White Sox 6

I probably made a poor choice trying to do the right thing for the
league by subjecting my own team to four games in two days.
After pitching Wednesday night, I was in no shape by the start of the
weekend, let alone pulling the quadruple-header. In the first
game on Saturday, the White Sox faired well behind an excellent
pitching performance by Jason Wendt (7in, 1ER, 6K, 32 total pitches)
to get the win and stop a late rally by the Dodgers. In game
two, the White Sox scheduled pitcher, Jordan Cross failed to make it
to the game due to the power blackout in NWA clogging up traffic.
I sent wiley veteran, Troy Flood to the hill who, after giving up a
three run homer and four total runs in the first settled down to allow
only one run afterwards. The Sox, however, could not muster the
bats against Dodger ace, John Thompson who only gave up 8 scattered
hits to the otherwise stout White Sox lineup. After the
Cardinals folded their season, I decided to find the Athletics another
opponent and the White Sox were the only team readily available on
short notice. Unfortunately, we could only muster 10 position
players and were missing a chunk of our starting lineup and pitching
rotation. Jordan Cross pitched a dandy in the first game
allowing only 1ER and striking out 9. Jason Wendt relieved and
got the loss giving up 2. The tired White Sox had nothing at the
plate in the first game and things would only worsen as the day went
on. In game two, (fourth in 24 hours) Jason Wendt pitched a
great 6 innings (14 innings in 24hrs), but left exhausted with a 6-2
lead. Troy Flood came in to try and finish the game, but gave up
5 runs while the Sox watched the lead and the weekend evaporate into a
forgettable moment. Not to take anything away from the
Athletics, but the White Sox were beaten before the day began. The
White Sox drop three of four on the weekend and trust that their
skipper will never make them try this again. This also opens the
door for playoff contention as it looks as if anyone can get in now...--Stephen
Boudreaux, White Sox

August 17, 2005

34+ Division

Boudreaux's KnuckleBallers 7 The TomKatz 6

Charles Fowler has been working diligently to create a new 38+
Division of the NWAMSBL to play on Wednesday nights. With the
low turnout, the age limit was dropped to 34+ which brought out some
new bodies. Tonight, we split the teams up between mostly league
board members on one side led by me, and the regular attendees in the
34+ nights led this time by Tom Katz. In my first complete game
pitching performance in nearly 20 years, I was tossing all
knuckleballs from the hill and, for the most part had a many of the
batters swinging over and before every pitch. A few pitches flew
wild which allowed the TomKatz team to creep back into the game, but a
few extra floaters did 'em in. I think I ended up with 6
strikeouts and 5 walks giving up 6 runs. Not too bad for a 37
year old that hasn't pitched a whole game since he was 18. Yeah,
I am sore. But the night was a blast, no pressure, a lot of
camaraderie, and fun baseball. Alex Fortin started for the
TomKatz and was hit pretty hard at first, but settled in for a few K's.
Tom Katz relieved in the last inning. Participants included Jeff
Kennett, Evan Press, Alan Davidson, Linden Lewis, Charles Fowler, Mark
Jackson, Dan Tillman, Trea Taylor, Jesse Floyd, Keith Holt, Dustin
Wilson, and others that I cannot rattle off the top of my head.
If you are over 34 and love baseball and want to share in this event,
come out to Phillips Park on Wednesday nights. Great fun!--Stephen Boudreaux, The
Front Office

July 31, 2005

White Sox 11 Pirates 1

Pirates 6 White Sox 9

The White Sox come off a layoff week after claiming the Arklahoma
Shootout Championship two weeks ago. Kurt Nantkes took the mound
in the first game and was pitching a dandy before his back started
giving him fits after two complete. Troy Flood came in to
relieve throwing five. Flood let the pesky Pirates creep back
into the game after the Sox had a 9-2 lead. Flood silenced his
own bullpin threat to close the game with a nifty strikeout. The
White Sox got 10 hits off Pirate pitcher Evan Press whose unorthodox
delivery had us on our heels at times. Danny Dodge of the
Pirates once again was the highlight against Sox pitchers roping two
doubles. In the second game, the White Sox offense was the story
scoring 11 runs in support of Jason Wendt's stellar complete game
outing (5in, 4h, 1ER, 9Ks). Brandon Barr went 2 for 3 with RBI
and 2 runs, and Alex Fortin finally came around to his usual output at
the plate with a 4 for 5 day with three runs scored and three RBI.--Stephen
Boudreaux, White Sox

In a re-match of last season's championship games, the Siloam Springs
Cardinals got themselves back on track at the expense of the White Sox
in game one. The White Sox came out flat in that first game
mustering only 4 runs against crafty veteran, Andy Crowson.
Crowson was the MSBL MVP in 2003 for the Tigers and has been a
journeyman pitcher with four teams in as many years. Andy has
always seemed to have the Sox's number as the lefty gave up nine hits
along with 7 Ks, but the hits were meaningless and scattered.
Troy Flood took the mound for the White Sox, but was as
uncharacteristically as sour as he seemed to feel that day.
Flood pulled himself after 5 innings behind by a run. Matt
"Yank" Rivard came on to relieve in a pressure situation, but the
Cardinal bats stayed hot like I expected them to be all day. In
game two, the White Sox threw rookie Jason Wendt at the Cardinal
sluggers. Although Wendt surrendered a number of hits (14), the
Cardinals couldn't string them together well enough to over come the
White Sox game two rally with 14 hits of their own. Wendt also
picked off two runners in the game. For the White Sox on the
day: Alex Fortin (4-6, 2B, 3RBI), Robert Foshe (4-6, 3RBI),
Stephen Boudreaux (3-6, 2RBI), Tom Katz (3-6, RBI). --Stephen
Boudreaux, White Sox

Boudreaux scores

Brandon with a great tag

Boudreaux tries to pull an inside pitch

Troy Flood safe at home

Tom Katz safe at home

I think that is Lyndall Bolinger in the dust

Yank to Boudreaux to Taliaferro

Tim Foshe ("BACK!!!")

Photos by Katherine
Filbeck

June 25-26, 2005

White Sox 8 Orioles 3

Orioles 2 White Sox 19

In game one, the Orioles took advantage of a few key errors by the White
Sox to get on the board early. Beyond that, it was a pitchers duel
through extra innings into the 9th with the score tied 3-3. On the
mound for the White Sox starting Dustin Wilson (1 run on 2 hits
3innings) relieved by newcomer, Jason Wendt who went the final 6 innings
(2 runs on 3 hits and 5Ks). The Orioles used crafty pitching to
keep the Sox on their heels. In the ninth, the game was broken
open on Robby Starner's single hit in by Stephen Boudreaux. Robert
Foshe walked driven in by Wes Bolinger whose run was generated by
rookie, Brandon Barr. Final score 8-3. On a sad note, White
Sox veteran and all-around great guy, Deanthony Hall was duped by a fake
tag by an Oriole second baseman forcing him to slide late breaking his
ankle in four places. Hall is out for the season +. That's
why there is a rule against fake tags. The ball was never
thrown...Although the culprit apologized, Hall will miss work, be out
countless dollars in medical bills, and he was supposed to move his
family this week. Please keep abreast of our safety rules against
collisions, fake tags, retaliation pitching, throwing equipment, etc.
It not only costs you an ejection from a game, but could cost the victim
much more...

In game two, the White Sox rallied for their fallen buddy after a brief
rain shower to club the Orioles 19-2 scoring 9 runs in the first inning
alone. Boudreaux was 2 for 3, Robert Foshe was 1 for 2 with a Home
Run and 2 RBI. Brandon Barr gets a highlight stealing home in the
second on a perfectly executed play. Troy Flood gets the complete
game victory in 4 innings (1ER, 2 hits, 3K and 2HBP).--Stephen
Boudreaux, White Sox

Troy Flood

Andy Miller

Eugene Burton (L) and Sam Burch

Do you believe the umpire called that a strike? Yep...

It was a hot day in Fort Smith (Eugene Burton)

Yank, Brandon, DeAnthony, Wendt

photos by Stephen Boudreaux

June
18-19, 2005

White Sox 7 Athletics 0

The defending champs came out a little stale at first. Maybe due
to skipper Boudreaux's nervousness about the strength of the A's team
who have tacked on a few vets from the old Hurricanes and Legends.
Tough pitchers like Marty Harrison and Derick Ackers to supplement
strong hitters like Dave Battaglia and Jay Graves. Maybe Boudreaux
also had his eyes set on performing with the Doobie Brothers later that
night. Either way, it was all shaken off by a fabulous return
effort on the mound by old White Sox vet back from sabbatical to the
Legends, Troy Flood. Flood pitched a two-hit shut out complete
game with 5 Ks and a hit batsmen (sub-par on the hit-batsmen...).
White Sox were led at the plate by Dustin Wilson 2-4 RBI, Robert Foshe
2-3, Alex Fortin 2RBI, and others. Defensively, the Sox were
strong with great plays by Tom Katz, Fortin, newcomers, Wes Bolinger,
and Brandon Barr with two nifty assists from behind the plate in two
short innings. The Sox still have a few MIAs that they expect to assist
in their run, Patrick Taliaferro, Deanthony Hall, Matt “Yank” Rivard,
Ray Sturgis, Ryan Bradbury, Jason Wendt, etc. --Stephen Boudreaux, White Sox